Language Tutors

Volunteering Opportunities

As a Language Tutor you will join pupils in a primary or secondary school and will assist with the school’s provision of modern language teaching. Having fluent speakers will help make the language classes more exciting and will increase the amount of guidance each student receives. You will thus contribute towards inspiring students to continue studying the foreign language at a higher level and towards developing their communication skills.

There are multiple volunteering roles you can take:

1. You can be a classroom assistant:

Helping students with written tasks and oral activities assigned by the teacher.

Creating resources to enhance the students' experience during their language class.

2. You can be an extracurricular tutor:

Giving extra help to students during their lunch breaks or after school.

3. You can sign up for Language Register:

The Language Register programme needs students who can speak a foreign language to help school children who have just arrived in the UK.

Please note that Warwick Volunteers cannot guarantee a placement on this programme and it is only allocated on an ad hoc basis. This isnotnecessarily a regular commitment.

How to get involved

Sign ups are now closed for 2019-20

"Hi! I’m Sophie, a second-year International Business with Spanish student. I was a student at the Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon (in France) for twelve years and I really loved the school's international and multicultural aspect. When I came to the University of Warwick, one of the things I looked forward to the most was taking part in projects which would allow me to share my love for languages and this really was the perfect opportunity for me! Last year, I volunteered as a French language tutor for year 9 students at Stoke Park School in Coventry. It was a fantastic experience and opportunity, that I would describe as both fun and rewarding! Having volunteered as a language tutor myself, I am really looking forward to helping YOU get the best out of your time volunteering as a Language Tutor!"

Hi! I'm Lua, and I’m a second-year Accounting and Finance student. I came from Macau and have been volunteering since secondary school. Being able to help others using my mother tongue has been something I have always want to do and being a language tutor was the perfect opportunity! Last year, I volunteered as a Mandarin language tutor for year 5 students at Finham Primary School in Coventry. It was very enjoyable, and I loved helping them to succeed and enjoy learning a language.

If you like languages and working with young people, sign up to be a Language Tutor this year!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about what we do, please feel free to contact us at Sophie.Bouzigues@warwick.ac.uk/Xinmiao.Liang@warwick.ac.uk

By 2pm Tuesday 7th January (term 2, week 1) : obtain a Certificate of Good Conduct (required if you have lived outside of the UK for more than 6 months in the last 5 years)

Term 2
You will essentially individually discuss this with the teacher you are assisting but count approximately a minimum of one hour a week during term 2.

Remember that all activities related to the Language Tutors project (including training sessions, the travel time to and from the school, and of course the time spent in the classroom!) can be logged on yourHours Log

The full commitment to Language Tutors provides the 15 hours of volunteering necessary for the Warwick Volunteers Certificate and recognition on your Higher Education achievement Report (HEAR)

Term 3
You may continue your volunteering placement in term 3 if you wish to!

Requirements

The ability to speak a foreign language (mostly French and Spanish and some opportunities for Mandarin and Japanese) to a high standard; A Level or other equivalent level or above, although we will also consider volunteers with GCSE level.

All volunteers will be required to:

Complete Safeguarding Children training

Complete an Enhanced criminal background check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

In addition, if you have lived outside of the UK for more than 6 months in the past 5 years you need to obtain a criminal record check from the country you lived in. This is commonly referred to as a ‘Certificate of Good Conduct’

Why get involved?

It is very rewarding to be able to use the language skills you have acquires and contribute towards expanding the knowledge of younger students. You will act as a role model for them and have the chance to make a long-lasting positive impact on their academic discipline. By making the study of the foreign language more exciting, you can inspire them to continue studying it at a higher level, maybe even onto university.

You will meet new people of roughly the same age as you, who share the same passion for languages and for tutoring as you. The volunteering sessions will be an enjoyable break from your studies.

By planning activities and interacting with students, teachers, and other volunteers, you will develop key transferable and interpersonal skills, which are highly sought by employers, such as patience, good organisation and communication abilities.

If you complete more than 15 hours of volunteering, you will receive a Warwick Volunteers Certificate of Completion, which will appear on your HEAR record. In order to keep track of all the hours you have volunteered, constantly update your Volunteers Hours Log, which can be found at the Warwick Volunteers Office or here. The hours you spend travelling also count!